PledgeCents Preferred Partner Highlight: Scientific Minds
The Vision
"It was the last week of school, and the excitement and anticipation was contagious. The seniors had mixed feelings of exhilaration and nostalgia as they scrambled to be sure all last minute requirements were met. Graduation invitations had been mailed, caps and gowns had been distributed, and parents were busy making final plans for the all-night Project Safe Graduation event.
During this week, Landon was called into the counselor's office and informed that he wasn't going to graduate with his class because he failed to pass one of the state assessments. He just crumbled. This lovable, fierce, 230-pound defensive lineman was devastated. I knew Landon well because he had played football with one of my sons all through junior high and high school. My heart was heavy, and I was so disappointed that we had failed Landon. This moment was a turning point in my career.
I was the science department chair and a biology teacher at a Texas high school. Landon was a good kid, the kind of student who struggled academically but who did what his coaches and teachers asked him to do. Polite and respectful, he attended afterschool tutorials and worked hard to meet the state requirements for graduation. Landon also had great teachers who were committed to helping him succeed. What happened? Where did we go wrong? Whatever the problem was, it was happening across the state. 2005 was the first year students were required to pass a science test to graduate, and over 50,000 students failed to meet the required standard.
The Product
I desperately wanted to do something to help our students, so that summer I took the state science standards and followed Marzano's research to break them into manageable chunks of learning. I created short PowerPoint lessons with memorable graphics and worked to use language that was clear and concise. I believe that we often overwhelm our students with too much information at once and use language they don't easily follow. The lessons were constructed to spiral content, which provided constant review of prior information. There was a focus on academic vocabulary and strategies for vocabulary acquisition. Each lesson included a released test question that we used as formative assessment and an opportunity to teach test-taking strategies.
The teachers in my department committed to teaching one lesson per day, a “Science Starter”, for the first 10 minutes of each period. The effect was profound. At the end of that year we had significant gains and the highest science scores in the region. Our struggling subpopulations showed the greatest improvement. 11th grade economically disadvantaged students went from 51% passing in 2005 to 79% in 2006. When area educators began asking how we achieved these results, I began working on a product that could be marketed. It took me two summers to complete the first marketable Science Starters program. 41 schools purchased the program for the 2007-2008 school year, and 95% showed significant gains, especially among the subpopulations. In the years since, schools across the United States have experienced similar results. The process works.
I left the classroom in 2008 and assembled a team to develop the Middle School Science Starters (grades 6-8), the Elementary Science Starters (grades 3-5), Biology Starters and Chemistry Starters. We also created a unique agriculture program called MC2 (Mastering Core Content in Agriculture) that teaches reading, writing, science, math, and social studies within the agriculture curriculum. We are currently working on a book of Middle School science concept maps and a new elementary program, the Science Sidekicks.
All of us at Scientific Minds are on a journey to develop meaningful science education products that are research-based and support students of all abilities and backgrounds. It is our mission to inspire, encourage, and provide teaching and learning tools that put students like Landon on the path to success."
-Kathy Reeves, President and Founder of Scientific Minds, LLC.
The Testimonial
We asked Alicia Ortega, a high school biology teacher at Edinburg North High School, to share her experience with using Scientific Minds.
How did you learn about Scientific Minds and the Science Starters?
"I initially stumbled upon Scientific Minds at a CAST (Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching) conference during my first year of teaching. I attended a session hosted by the president of the company, Kathy Reeves. Immediately I knew I had to have the product to help make individualized learning a possibility in my classroom. I was sold as soon as I saw the dynamic visuals and Spanish translations. I texted my principal begging for the funding, knowing right away this product would forever change my classroom culture. At only $10 a student it was a feasible expense."
How do you utilize Biology Starters in your classroom? What are the benefits?
"The Biology Science Starters have allowed me to create an individual remediation plan for each of my students. With student accounts I am able to track their progress towards mastery on various objectives and assign lessons that challenge every student regardless of their learning level. Each student has a unique set of needs that I am able to accommodate through the Science Starters by having them work through individualized trackers based on benchmark data. As students met their goals incentives were to celebrate their successes.
The Science Starters are used in my classroom one month before the End of Course exam as a review and remediation tool. Each Science Starter contains a short lesson following the 5E structure that can be read or played by video. The initial slide presents a question or relates the concept to their everyday life. The rest of the information is chunked in bit size pieces so the student can focus on critical facts needed to master that topic. As the student progresses through the 3-4 minute video they are able to follow guided notes and highlight key facts. Once the explain portion is complete the student gets to work through flashcards containing key vocabulary terms and quiz themselves. The Science Starter concludes with a 5 question quiz to assess the student’s understanding."
What would you say to another teacher who may be hesitant about trying a new #edtech product in their classroom?
"The Science Starters have allowed me to differentiate my teaching to an entire classroom of students. As a newer educator I found it difficult to find a balance within diverse classes that had such different levels of learners. If I went too fast, slower learners would be left behind. If I slowed down the lesson my advanced students were not being properly challenged. With Science Starters this issue gets eliminated.
Each student can be on a different lesson at the same time which allows the teacher the freedom to work with a small group, while still pushing the advanced students to their highest potential. Each student is busy working on the particular objectives she/he needs.
The product is easy to use, affordable, and takes no prep at all. The guided notes, lesson, vocabulary cards, and quizzes are all made and aligned to the state standards. The product can be used in any setting by any adult, even if their strength is not in biology. Science Starters have closed so many achievement gaps among my students and have helped me become a better educator. Science Starters truly are an amazing product."
